Call for Art: How to Do Things with Words and Other Materials [UPDATE]

(Call for Art):How To Do Things with Words and Other Materials: Artist Books Show-and-TellAs part of "Spanking and Poetry": A Conference on Eve Kosofsky SedgwickEnglish Student Association Conference, Feb 25-26, 2010The Graduate CenterThe City University of New YorkNew York, New York

During her time at The Graduate Center, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick taught three incarnations of How to Do Things with Words and Other Materials— "an experimental seminar/studio workshop," as she put it, "in which participants will think about and practice a variety of ways of combining written text with other visual media." Through a series of weekly assignments, Sedgwick and her students played with the materiality of the codex and the written word, showcasing their efforts in a public show-and-tell at semester's end.

In hopes of extending Sedgwick's interest in words and textiles, and as part of "'Spanking and Poetry': A Conference on Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick," this show-and-tell will bring together a variety of artist books produced by Sedgwick, her students, and those inspired by her work. This call-for-art invites submissions that explore in some way the relations among language, materiality, and visuality. We welcome art by former participants in Sedgwick's courses on the topic as well as those whose work draws on or intersects with hers.

Professors Jonathan Goldberg and Michael Moon of Emory University will be presenting the keynote address entitled "On the Eve of the Future." Professor Goldberg will be discussing the Eve Sedgwick's unpublished work that he's assembling as her literary executor, while Professor Moon will speak about the continuing impact of Sedgwick's work.